457 Visa To Be Abolished And Replaced

The Government have announced on 18 April 2017 that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018.

The TSS visa programme will be comprised of `a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers.

This new visa is part of the Government’s significant reform package to strengthen the integrity and quality of Australia’s temporary and permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programmes.

Key reforms include:

• Introducing the temporary skill shortage visa with new requirements, including but not limited to:
  • new, more targeted occupation lists which better align with skill needs in the Australian labour market
  • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation
  • a minimum market salary rate which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers
  • mandatory labour market testing, unless an international obligation applies,
  • capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream
  • capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream
  • the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years
  • a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers
  • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers
  • the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will collect Tax File Numbers and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records, and
  • mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.
• Tightening eligibility requirements for employer sponsored permanent skilled visas, including but not limited to:
  • tightened English language requirements
  • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least three years’ work experience
  • applicants must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application
  • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers, and
  • employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.
• Concessions for regional Australia will continue to be available:
  • Employers in regional Australia will continue to have access to occupations under the temporary and permanent visas, to reflect their skills needs.
  • Existing permanent visa concessions for regional Australia, such as waiving the nomination fee and providing age exemptions for certain occupations, will be retained. Consideration will be given to expanding the occupations in regional Australia that are exempt from the age requirement.
• Significantly condensing the occupation lists used for skilled migration visas, including the subclass 457 visa, from 19 April 2017.

The implementation of these reforms will begin immediately and will be completed in March 2018.

List of Removed Occupation – Effective 19 April 2017

There will be over 200 occupations to be removed effective on 19 April 2017 from the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) which will replaced the previous ‘Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List’ (CSOL).

New Skilled Occupation List for 2016-17 Released

Department of Immigration have just released the new Skilled Occupation List for 2016-17. The SOL list is used for subclasses 485, 189 and 489 (family sponsored) visas and the CSOL which is used for 457, 186 and 190 visas application.

There will be sign of relieve for those who were worried that Accountants would be strike off the list. Based on the new list, Accountants and Internal Auditor have remained on the list and occupation of Orthotist or Prosthetist and Audiologist has been added onto the SOL list.

However Petroleum and Mining Engineers have been taken off along with several others such as Metallurgist, Dental Hygienist, Dental Prosthetist, Dental Technician, Dental Therapist, Environmental Health Officer, Occupational Health and Safety Advisor.

The new SOL and CSOL list can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2016L00800/Download

Working Holiday Maker Visa Review

The Turnbull Government have just announced that it will undertake a review of the broad range of issues affecting the supply and taxation of working holiday maker 417 and 462 visas which was set to take into effect on 1st July.

“There have been a number of legitimate concerns that have been raised. The tax arrangements require further discussion so we don’t lose market share in this space,” Tourism and International Education Minister Richard Colbeck said at Tourism Australia’s Destination Australia conference in Sydney.

The Review of 417 and 462 Visa Labour’ will report by mid-October with agreed changes to take effect from 1st January 2017.

Tax Changes on Working Holiday Visa holders from 1st July 2016

According to the latest Australian Government Federal Budget, Treasurer Joe Hockey announced that from 1st July 2016, working holiday visa holder will be taxed at 32.5% from their first dollar earned.

Under the current tax laws, if a working holiday visa holder stays in Australia and is in one place for 6 months or longer, they are deemed a resident and therefore able to claim the tax-free threshold.

Based on the announcement, the changes will not impact tax returns lodged by working holiday visa holders for the years ending June 2015 or June 2016.

Notification of Changes to AITSL Assessment Criteria

Effective of 22nd April 2016, there are some changes to the Early Childhood (Pre-Primary School) teacher professional criterion. AITSL will now consider supervised teaching practice with children across the Birth to 8 years age range, completed as a compulsory component of a relevant initial teacher education qualification, towards meeting the supervised teaching practice requirements of the Professional criterion for Early Childhood (Pre-Primary School) Teacher (ANSCSO 241111).

AITSL will now accept suitable Academic IELTS Test Report Forms for tests undertaken during the 24 month period prior to submitting an AITSL skills assessment application. This is in keeping with the use of Academic IELTS for teacher registration purposes and the period IELTS can be verified.

(Source: AITSL)

Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF) on 1st July 2016

From 1st July 2016, Department of Immigration will introduce a simplified international student visa framework. The key changes under the SSVF are:

• A reduction in the number of student visa subclasses from eight to two; and
• The introduction of a simplified single immigration risk framework for all international students.

This new framework is designed to make the process of applying for student visas easier and deliver a more targeted approach to immigration integrity.

457 Changes From 19th April 2016

On 19 April 2016, a number of legislative changes regarding the subclass 457 visa programme came into effect. The main changes are:

• Obligation on standard business sponsors that they not engage discriminatory recruitment practices, on the grounds of immigration status or citizenship is introduced.
• The sponsor will be required to declare in writing that they will not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices.
• Simplification of English language exemptions for 457 visa applicants if they have already met the same, or better, English language requirements to gain an occupational registration or license.

Schedule 3 waiver overturned – Good news for Partner visa applicants who applied as unlawful applicants (without substantive visa)

The judgement in Waensila v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2016] FCAFC 32 (11 March 2016) handed down on Friday has overturned the Department’s interpretation and enforcement of the Schedule 3 policy and the provision of waivers for partner applications.

Many DIBP officers have been taking a hard line in these cases, particularly where the applicant has been unlawful, refusing waivers of Schedule 3 and forcing applicants to go offshore to make their applications.

The current policy has been interpreted as limiting the circumstances that can be taken into account when considering a waiver to have occurred before the application was made.

This judgement adopted the precedent of the High Court decision in Berenguel in finding that the Minister’s discretion to waive the Schedule 3 requirements is not limited to circumstances before the application was made, but rather ’…if and when compelling circumstances arise’.

The judgement states that … the introduction of a waiver provision recognises the hardship that can result if an unlawful non-citizen wishing to remain in Australia on spouse grounds is obliged to leave Australia and apply from overseas’ and there is ‘… no reason to limit the circumstances, whether they favour the visa applicant or not, to the position at a time before, and often substantially before, the Minister considers the exercise of that discretion’.

As with Berenguel, this judgement will have far reaching effects and go some way to alleviate the hardship that has been borne since the current policy interpretation was adopted.

(Source: MIA)

Government crackdown on family sponsored visa sponsors with family violence history

Legislation introduced to parliament to crack down on people with a history of family violence from sponsoring family visas. The Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2016 is intended to initially apply only to partner visas but would ultimately be extended to other family visas. This means that sponsors will be scrutinised before visas are issued.

Under the new proposed measures, an assessment and approval of the sponsor would take place before a visa could be lodged.

Trial of ‘Fast Track’ Visitor visa applications in China

From mid-March 2016, applicants from China applying for visitor visa Subclass 600 (Tourist and Business streams) will be able to access an optional priority service at the request by visa applicant for a fee of AUD1,000 – charged in addition to the existing visa application charge. The priority service provides consideration of a visa application, however there is no regulatory requirement that the application be decided by a particular timeframe. Applicants should note that there is no guarantee that the visa application will be finalized within 48 hours.

High Performing Student graduates in South Australia

The SA government will offer state nomination to high-performing international graduates of South Australian public universities (Flinders University, University of Adelaide and University of South Australia) through the “high performing graduate” category.

The benefit of the ‘high performing graduate’ category include having access to more extensive list of occupations on either the State Occupation List or the Supplementary Skilled List and waiver to Immigration SA’s work experience and English language requirements.

In order to qualify as a high performing graduate, you will need to be currently residing in South Australia and have completed one of the following qualifications from a South Australian public university (in the last two years) with the required Grade Point Average listed below:

• PhD or Masters by Research
• GPA of 6.0 or above in a Masters by Coursework degree (following completion of a Bachelor degree in South Australia)
• First Class Honours in a dedicated Honours year (following completion of a Bachelor degree in South Australia)
• GPA of 6.0 or above in a Bachelor degree.

Immigration SA offers state nomination under the 190 or 489 General Skilled Migration visa category.

Hungary added to Work and Holiday visa program

On 24 February 2016, Australia and Hungary signed a Work Holiday Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a reciprocal Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) arrangement between the two countries.

This will allow young people from both countries to visit each other’s nations under the Australian Government’s work and holiday arrangements. Once the arrangement has commenced, eligible young people from Hungary will be able to apply for this visa programme.

The arrangement will be capped at 200 places each year and commencement date will be announced on DIBP’s website.

Additional Pathway to Permanent Residence for ‘Non-Protected’ Special Category Visa (SCV) holders

The Australian government has announced an additional visa pathway that will be available from 1 July 2017.

To be eligible for the new visa pathway, Special Category visa holders who are ordinarily resident in Australia would be able to apply for permanent residence under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program if they meet the following criteria:

• Be a non-protected Special Category Visa holder
• Have arrived in Australia after 26th February 2001, but on or before, the date of the announcement, 19 February 2016.
• They have been resident in Australia for the 5 years immediately prior to applying for permanent residency;
• Have demonstrate assessable income of at least equivalent to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), which is currently $53,900 in each of the 5 years; and
• Meet mandatory health, character and security checks

457 Self Sponsorship Visas Disallowed

Changes have been made to the Australian Immigration policy documents for 457 nominations which means that 457 self-sponsorship is now very difficult. The changes are in relation to the ‘genuine position’ requirement for the nomination. As a result, the nomination would be refused on the basis that the position has been created solely to obtain a visa.

Immigration legislation has highlighted ‘risk factor’s that could indicate the position is not genuine, including:

• The visa applicant is a relative or personal associate of an officer of the sponsoring business
• The visa applicant is a director or owner of the sponsoring business
• The visa applicant is currently in Australia as the holder of a 417 visa
• The salary level is inconsistent with other workers in the occupation (for example, the nominated salary is significantly lower than industry standards for the nominated occupation)
• The business has indicated on the application form that they have received a payment from the visa application for lodging the nomination.
• The visa applicant has indicated on their visa application form that they have made a payment (or entered into an arrangement to make a payment) to the proposed employer for nominating them.

Immigration will wish to see an ASIC historical extract with the application and this would give information on the company owners and directors and will be able to assist in establishing whether the visa applicant is associated with a company officer.

The policy is intended that the application will be scrutinised and based on these changes, ‘self-sponsorship’ is not recommended.

Introduction of Payment for Visa Legislation – Illegal

The Migration Amendment (Charging for a Migration Outcome) Act 2015 has been passed and came into effect from 14 December 2015, making it a criminal offence for a sponsor to be paid by a visa applicant in return for securing a migration outcome.

Under the new legislation, anyone asking for, receiving, offering or providing payments or other benefits in return for visa sponsorship can now face up to 2 years imprisonment, civil penalties of up to $324,000 and/or visa cancellation.

The new offences make it clear that if applicants are caught paying their employer to sponsor them for a visa is taking a huge risk as the consequences are severe.

Visa Reform and New Entrepreneur Visa

The Australian Government announced the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) on 7 December 2015. Under the NISA announcement, the current visa system will be enhanced through:

• New Entrepreneur visa to be introduced for applicants with innovative ideas and financial backing from a third party. (be introduced in November 2016)
• Changes to facilitate pathway tp permanent residence for foreign post-graduate students from Australian institution with specialised Doctorate-level and Masters by Research qualifications with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or ICT (Information communication technology) talent. (be introduced in December 2016).

Immigration Minster Peter Dutton said “These changes remove impediments in the visa system to facilitate entry and retention of highly talented people”.

New DIBP Health Matrix form 20th November 2015

The Department of Immigration have recently updated its health check requirements for both the temporary and permanent visa applications. This changes will take into effect from 20th November 2015.

This means that the examination required to be undertaken by the visa applicants will depend on how long they intend to stay in Australia, the ‘risk level’ of their country of citizenship and what activities they intend to undertake while in Australia.

The new matrix will be available on the Health Examinations webpage: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Heal/meeting-the-health-requirement/health-examinations

These new arrangements are designed to ensure that Australia’s immigration health screening remains appropriately targeted – with the Australian community effectively protected against risks to public health but visa applicants not required to complete unnecessary health examinations where considered to be ‘lower risk’ from a health perspective.

Source: Source: DIBP

New Alternative English Language Test for Engineers Australia Skill Assessment

From 1st January 2016, Engineers Australia will be accepting the TOEFL iBT as an alternative English Language Test to address the English language competency element of the Migration Skills Assessment.

Applicants submitting their applicant on or after 1st January 2016 will be able to provide either an IELTS test result from with a score of 6 or more in each of the 4 modules, or a TOEFL iBT result with the following minimal scores for each module:

• Listening: 12
• Reading: 13
• Writing: 21
• Speaking: 18

TOEFL IBT result will be accepted up to 2 years after the test date.

Source: Engineers Australia

Latest Update on 2nd Working Holiday Visa Extension

Department of Immigration have just announced that volunteer work will no longer count towards 2nd year visa working holiday extension. This change will be effective from 31st August 2015.

This means that you will need to make sure that you have pay slips when applying for your 2nd Working Holiday visa. Any unpaid regional work completed after 31st August 2015 will not meet the requirement towards your 2nd year visa extension. For voluntary work completed prior to 31st August 2015 will not be subject to the new requirement for pay slips.

New Skilled Occupation Announced

It is the time of the year again when Department of Immigration and Border Protection announce changes made on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) for skilled migrant / international student who rely on it for migration purposes. Good news for students and visa applicants, Accountant is still on the Skilled Occupation List and has not been removed.

However, occupation such as Urban Regional Planner, Dentist and Dental Specialist has been removed from the SOL list and occupation such as Cabinetmaker and Panelbeater have been added onto the list.

New Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) Visa 187 Skilled List

DIBP have just released the latest Skilled List for RSMS Direct Entry stream applications. Attached here is the list: https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2015L01018

Changes to Accounting Bodies Migration Skill Assessment Requirements

As of 1st July 2015, all assessing authorities for accounting nominated occupation will implement the new changes where applicants will need to meet the new educational requirements for a positive skill assessment.

The current 12 core accounting areas will be reduced to 9 core areas where most applicants will need to meet a certain number of core areas for the approval of their skill assessment.

More information here.

Latest Update on SkillSelect Invitation Rounds

From July 2015 onwards, the invitation rounds for Expression of Interest application will be held once monthly with the dates of invitation rounds will be advised by DIBP in advance of round.

The number of invitation to be issued in the month of July 2015 invitation round which will be held on 6th July 2015 would be:

• 2300 invitations for Skilled – Independent Subclass 189
• 30 invitations for Skilled – Regional Provisional Subclass 489

Please note that this will not affect any State or Territory government nomination for subclass 489 visa applications.

Reduced quota for Accountants in visa application for 2015-16!!!

The Department of Immigration have decided to reduce the number of quota for the occupation of Accountant in their visa allocation in the Migration Program Year 2015-16.

The number of places has been significantly reduced to 2525 places as compared to 5000 places last program year. This will affect most of the visa applicants in the 60 points score range. Applicants will now find themselves having to increase the point score to 65 and above in order to secure an invitation for their visa lodgement.